


Wolf in Plain Sight

by elliemoran



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Diners, Hunters & Hunting, M/M, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-03
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2018-02-11 13:24:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 20,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2069874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elliemoran/pseuds/elliemoran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi has a dog that's not a dog at all, and doesn't actually belong to him, but spends a remarkable amount of time shedding fur all over his house.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Warning

**Author's Note:**

> So this was a surprise fic I did not mean to start on just yet, but it happened anyways. It was originally meant to be a smutty one shot with next to no plot but that isn't what it is anymore in any way whatsoever (sorry)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy it!

Bright fluorescent lighting battled against the dark gloom of the cloudy winter skies, bathing every corner of the small diner in harsh, unforgiving white light. Most of the mismatched tables were empty, chairs neatly tucked underneath as a pair of waitresses moved briskly through the room, wiping down tables, restocking the baskets of sugar and jam, and occasionally topping up coffee mugs for the very few stragglers who didn’t have anywhere better to be on a Friday afternoon.

Sitting at a back table, surrounded by tidy stacks of paper as he tallied up the week’s receipts, Levi’s pencil moved swiftly down the columns of the accounts book the diner’s owner insisted they use.

Erwin didn’t trust computers.

But Levi didn’t really mind logging everything like this – at least he didn’t have to deal with any customers while he did it, and there wasn’t enough traffic through the small northern town this time of year for it to take too long.

As he worked his way through the piles of receipts, he heard Hange’s off-key singing leak out through the double doors behind the bar, accompanying the faint sounds of a radio, and the clatter of dishes in the sink.  Petra hummed along softly as she set a bucket of water on a nearby table, squeezing out a rag and swiping it over the surface.

The only real clue that they were even open was the soft murmur from the trio of camouflage-covered men sitting at a corner table.

And the loud thud that broke up the peace of the room a moment later.

“Yo, Krista. Get me another coffee, would you?”

Levi lifted his head, eyes fixing on the uniformed deputy perched on a stool at the far end of the bar.

“You break that, you pay triple for it.”

“Yeah, yeah.” With exaggerated care, Ymir picked up, and then set back down the mug she’d just smacked onto the counter. “Happy now?”

“You look bored, Ymir. Why don’t you go do some actual work?”

Ymir grinned back at him. “And you look irritable, Levi. What’s wrong – full moon got you down?”

“Here’s your coffee, Ymir.” Krista hastily stepped in between them. “Drink up. Now.” The usually soft-spoken waitress’s voice went hard on the last word. Miraculously, Ymir turned away, keeping her mouth shut as she lifted the steaming coffee cup to her lips.

After a moment, Krista nodded and moved away, Petra started humming again, loudly splashing her rag into the bucket of water, the men at the corner table went back to their conversation, and Levi deliberately pushed the obnoxious deputy out of his mind as he turned his attention back to the paper in his hand. Ymir wouldn’t leave until Krista did, and there was no point in letting her make him have to stay any later than necessary.

Quickly immersed in the numbers again, he didn’t realize Petra had moved away until he heard her amused voice call out from across the room. “Hey, Levi. Your dog’s here to pick you up.”

Levi glanced back up. “He's not mine.” He spoke automatically, and almost absently, but his eyes searched intently through the darkening windows, quickly finding the large, shaggy brown animal peering in through the glass with his paws up on the planter that ran along the front of the diner.

He caught sight of Levi looking his way, and his large, bushy tail started wagging fiercely. 

“Poor guy. He certainly thinks he is.”

Levi snorted as he lowered his eyes back to the accounts ledger, though his pencil didn’t move. “Stupid mutt.”

The men at the corner table stood up, scooting their chairs back. As they walked towards the cash register at the center of the bar, all three eyed the animal through the window.

As the tallest of the three pulled out his wallet, one of the others, slightly stocky and with bright orange cuffs on his jacket, stepped away and moved closer to the glass.

“Say, are you sure that’s a dog?”

Levi didn’t think any of the men noticed the way Krista and Petra both went very still.

With a loud scraping sound, Levi pushed his own chair back. “Sure he is.” His voice was calm as he walked towards them. “I’ll ring you up.”

Petra jolted into motion, dropping her rag into the water. “You know, it looks like it’s starting to rain. I’m just going to go check on.. on the _dog_.” She yanked open the door, bell jingling as she darted outside. A moment later the big animal’s face disappeared.

The stocky one didn't look away from the window. “He must have a lot of wolf in him. If it weren’t for how even his coloring is he’d look just like one of the ones out in the woods.”

Ymir swiveled on her seat. “We get a lot of that around here.” She bared her teeth in something that might have been a smile. “But don’t worry. All our _dogs_ are fully domesticated.”

“Ah, yeah.” The third man, the shortest of the three, smiled back uneasily. “We don’t mean anything by it.” He glanced towards the stocky one. “Right, Steve? Just saying.”

Steve finally turned away from the window and realized everyone’s eyes were focused on him. He took a tiny step back. “Yeah. Just saying.”

Levi handed back the change, and all three moved quickly away.

Krista pulled the door wide. “Have a nice night!” She beamed up at the men.  

The last one out was the talkative Steve. He paused just before the doorway, hands fiddling with a bright orange cap he’d pulled out of his pocket, and glanced back at Levi and Ymir. “You know, I really didn’t mean anything special. Just… he sure does look a lot like a wolf. If he was wandering out too near the woods, there’d be no easy way to tell he was a dog.” He hesitated, and then yanked on the cap. “That’s all.” 

As the man ducked out, Krista followed, and Levi and Ymir were left alone.

Ymir turned back to her coffee, and Levi started cashing out the register. Neither spoke, though both kept glancing towards the front where they could see Krista and Petra hovering over the source of the problem.  

“He’s right though.” Ymir kept her eyes on the back wall of the bar.

Levi didn’t bother looking up as he counted out dollar bills. 

“We’re the only wolf hunting region left. Both the other districts hit their limit already for the year. Nineteen to the west, eight in the southern counties.” She took a sip of what must have been lukewarm coffee. “There’s thousands of hunters that put in a lot of time and money for their wolf licenses, and only thirteen more harvests allowed, all right around here. We’re going to be flooded with people looking for wolves. They won’t all give warnings like friendly mister Steve either.”

Levi tucked the paper money back in and started on the change.

Ymir watched him, her hands wrapped around her empty cup. “You know they got another one, yesterday. Just across the county line – not twenty miles from here.”

Sliding the cash into an envelope, Levi slammed the drawer shut and slid the money into the safe drop underneath. "You sure are talkative today." 

"Yeah, and fuck you too." Ymir sulked in her chair, her mouth firmly clamped shut. 

Levi walked to the kitchen door and pushed it open. “Hey Hange, you okay to leave now?”

Hange ducked out from the walk-in fridge, blinking at Levi over fogged-up glasses. “Yeah, I can go. Why?”

“Drive Petra home, would you?”

She eyed him for a second, and then nodded. “Sure.”

Turning back, Levi found Ymir watching him, eyes deliberately wide.

“Letting people leave work early. How unusual.”

Levi ignored the mockery in her voice. “Why don’t you and Krista go now too.”

Her face went blank from shock. “What! Seriously?”

“There’s a storm coming. We won’t have any more customers tonight anyway. I’ll schedule extra cleaning tomorrow instead.”

She snorted. “Yeah, of course you will.” But she hopped off the stool.

They stepped outside, and found Petra sitting on the cold ground with the dog’s head in her lap, while Krista rubbed at his exposed belly.

For a moment, Levi and Ymir’s expressions were unified in disgust.

“Oh for shit’s sake. Get up.”

Petra and Krista gasped and scrambled up, but Levi’s glare was aimed at the animal still sprawled out on the pavement.

“Hey Krista, let’s go.” Ymir grabbed for Krista’s hand.

“What?”

Levi glanced up. He jerked his head back towards the diner. “You can both go. Hange’ll drive you home.” The last was aimed at Petra, who watched him closely.

“C’mon.” Ymir pulled Krista inside.

Petra shifted from foot to foot, but stayed where she was. “Are you sure?” She stretched a hand down to scratch at the dog’s ear as he moved to sit up at her side. “I don’t mind staying.”

“It’s fine. Go.”

She nodded slowly. “Alright.” With a last pat, she followed Ymir and Krista.

As the jangle of the bell faded, Levi knelt in front of the big, velvety brown animal, a hand beneath his muzzle to keep him from dropping his eyes. “You’re such a nuisance, Eren.”

Eren let out a short whine, pushing his nose forward towards Levi’s face.

Levi let go of Eren’s muzzle to gently flick a finger between his odd green eyes. “Be a little more careful, would you?” He stroked a hand back over soft fur as he stood.

With a short yip, Eren got to his feet, brushing his head against Levi’s hip.  A moment later he was rushing towards the door, standing on his hind legs and bracing his front against the glass so he could use his whole weight to push it open.

“That’s not being careful, you idiot.” 

But Eren was already gone, bounding across the diner towards Hange and Petra.


	2. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi can't shake the feeling that he needs to get Eren safely home as quickly as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ran into a little bit of a block when I was writing this chapter, and thanks to some awesome messages from lovely people, I managed to get through it. So thank you all very, very much.
> 
> But here is the second chapter, I hope you all like it :)
> 
> Also I got to watch lots of YouTube videos of wolves over the past few weeks, which made me happy and I highly recommend it.

Levi scanned the deserted street as he let Eren back out through the front door of the diner. A single traffic light – the only one for fifty miles in any direction - blinked steadily, brightly red against the dull grey skies. The flashing light reflected off of the blank windows of the barber shop, the library, the bank, all the run down businesses and stores huddled around the intersection that formed the town center.

Everything was still, and empty. Even the grocery store down at the far end of the road was dark with no sign of Dot Pixis’ car in the lot.

Not that _that_   was a surprise. Like the traffic light, and the diner, none of the stores had all that much in the way of competition anywhere remotely nearby, and ideas like ‘keeping to regular business hours’ were considered foreign and unnecessary by most of the local shopkeepers. Pixis was usually the worst of the bunch.

Still, this was early, even for him.

Keys jangling at his hip, loud in the cold, damp air, Levi picked up the box of account ledgers he’d set on the ground beside the door, hitching it up against his side as he started down the street, heading towards the tiny paved lot that held what passed for the local car dealership, and Erwin’s office. 

Eren’s claws clicked over the cement as he happily bounded ahead then darted back to circle Levi, tongue poking out between his front fangs. Looking at him now, it was hard to imagine Eren was anything but a large, friendly, excitable, idiotic dog. Most of which was true.

Levi glanced up at the sky. With the heavy cloud cover it was hard to tell for certain, but he didn’t think they had much more than an hour before sunset.

It would be enough time to get home, at least.

Stepping off the cracked pavement onto the even more cracked cement of the car lot, Levi slipped between the densely parked cars, making his way to the square building at the back. His hand was already on the door’s handle when he stopped, turning back to scan the area again. There was nothing. Everything was quiet, unmoving, and grey. Even the garish neon writing painted across the car windows seemed muted, for once.

But the uncomfortable feeling wouldn’t go away.

“Eren, come in with me, would you?”

Nose lifting from where he’d been sniffing at the tire of a particularly rusty old Jeep, Eren hesitated, his head cocked.  He took a step forward, his eyes fixed on Levi’s face.

“I’ll clear it with Erwin. Today only.” Levi pulled at the door, holding it wide open.

Hesitation over, Eren dashed across the lot and slid inside past Levi. He was already circling the room, poking his nose at everything he could reach before Levi had the door pulled shut behind him.

He set the box on Erwin’s desk. “Don’t touch anything.”

Eren huffed, but put a few more inches between his nose and Erwin’s things.

Levi sat behind the desk, unlocking the bottom drawer. As he filed away the diner’s records, he kept half his attention on Eren.

Not that Eren would deliberately do anything to make a mess, but… Levi held back a flinch as Eren’s wildly waving tail narrowly missed knocking one of Erwin’s framed photos off the coffee table.

“That’s not a good idea, Eren.”

Eren froze, one paw hovering just above a pale yellow seat cushion, hind legs already braced to launch himself up.

Levi saw the considering look the dog gave him. “Erwin just bought that thing. If you really want to see what he’ll do if you get it dirty though, go for it.”

His ears folding back against his head, Eren quickly backed away from the sofa, plopping himself down on the carpet beside Levi’s chair.

The last ledger filed, Levi slid the drawer shut and pulled out a sheet of blank paper. And then hesitated. He knew Erwin wouldn’t really mind, but he needed to explain why he’d closed the diner early.

The last thing he wanted to say was that he’d just wanted to get Eren home as quickly as possible. Erwin would definitely start poking at him over it, and that never went well. 

In the end, he didn’t bother trying to explain – briefly letting Erwin know what he’d done, before going onto the usual cleaning instructions for the weekend shift. Moblit would be running the place until Monday, so hopefully Erwin would have forgotten all about it by then. Unlikely, of course, but he could hope. 

He was nearly done when a wet nose pushed beneath his arm, shoving it up and out of the way. Eren had evidently run out patience. With a soft whine, he let the full weight of his head rest across Levi’s lap.

“You’re in the way.” Levi’s free hand came down to tug gently at one of Eren’s ears.

Eren pushed his head a little further over Levi’s legs.

Levi studied the huge animal as Eren kept his eyes firmly fixed on some spot on the far wall. Hiding his amusement – the idiot was spoiled enough already - Levi shoved Eren’s head off of his lap.

With a long, drawn out sigh, Eren dropped back down to the floor.

Shaking his head, Levi finished his report, folding up the paper and tucking it into Erwin’s top drawer. He slid back his chair. “Let’s go.”

 

___

 

A quarter of an hour later, Levi pushed open his front door. The rain had started during the last part of the walk home, but it hadn’t reached much more than a drizzle. Still, he was relieved when Eren remembered to shake himself off outside before squeezing past Levi and heading into the dark of the house.

Toeing off his shoes, he heard the scrape of teeth over metal as Eren twisted open the doorknob on the living room closet. He frowned, making a mental note to check it later - it sounded loose again, and as annoying as it was to keep replacing handles, the last thing he wanted was to have Eren’s stuff spilling out into the house when he wasn't around.

Mostly because of Hange, Mike, and Erwin. They had spent years entertaining themselves by seeing who could sneak the most objectionable shit in under Levi's nose, from the stuffed raccoon head Hange had mounted over his bed right after they'd first met, to replacing all of his underwear with lace thongs.

Levi was pretty sure Mike had been responsible for that particular incident, but he'd never managed to get a straight answer from anyone, or his underwear back. 

Once Eren had come along, the three had quickly worked out that the best way to keep Levi from throwing anything out was to have Eren find it - and fall in love with it - before he did. The closets were all full of the stupidest junk that Levi somehow couldn't get rid of, but he didn't want to have to look at it any more than necessary. 

The fact that Levi found himself incredibly irritated by things that reminded him of Eren during the long stretches the dog wasn't around was secondary and unimportant, and something Levi would never admit. 

Eren was deep in the closet, only his back legs and wagging tail visible as Levi walked through into the kitchen. He flipped on the stove before propping open the back door, leaving only the screen door to keep out the cold.

He turned on the water in the sink, squeezing out a thick blob of sterilizing soap into his hand as he tried to ignore the series of loud thumps that came from the living room. A moment later Eren backed into the kitchen, dragging in a bright purple and orange beanbag with his teeth.

The thing was from Hange. It was huge, hideous, and it was Eren’s favorite.

Eren towed it across the kitchen, positioning the beanbag just in front of the screen door before half hopping, half dropping full length across it. His large frame dwarfed even the oversized eyesore as he lay with his front legs splayed out, head down flat.

His body was tense and eyes were firmly fixed on the sky outside.

Levi hadn’t turned on any of the lamps, and the room gradually darkened. Despite the sizzle of fish and oil from the stove, and the low hum of the range hood, a hush seemed to fall over the kitchen as the light slowly disappeared from behind the clouds outside. 

Still, when the faint creaking started behind him, it was bright enough that Levi knew the sun was still up. 

The familiar, alien sensation that always accompanied those unearthly sounds ran up his spine, all the way into his skull, but Levi didn't turn around, focusing on the flames in front of him as he waited.

Barely an instant after the room behind him went silent, arms slipped around Levi's waist and he felt Eren’s very human chest warm against his back. He felt himself relax, almost without thought, easing backwards as he felt himself become enveloped by Eren’s abnormal heat and distinct scent.

“You stink.”

“Hmm.” Eren tightened his arms, hunching down as he dropped his head and buried his nose in the curve of Levi’s shoulder and neck, breathing in deeply.

Levi angled his head the slightest bit further, giving Eren better access. “You’re getting better at shifting during the day, aren’t you? It wasn't sundown yet.”

Eren nodded.  “Y-” He stopped, his arms tightening. “Y-” He stopped again, and Levi felt the chest against his back expand in several deep breaths as he lifted his head.

Levi kept quiet, flipping the fish in the pans as he waited. Eren must not have changed for a while – speech was always the hardest thing for him when he stayed a wolf for too long.

"Yes." Eren spoke slowly, carefully, his words very slightly slurred.  “I practiced a lot. Before the hunters sta-“

This time when he stopped, dropping his head back down, Levi didn't think it was because he was having trouble speaking.

“Are the hunters becoming a problem?”

Eren shook his head, still buried in the crook of Levi’s neck. His arms tightened and Levi felt the tension in his large body.

Levi turned off the stove. The room was getting cold, with the back door still open, but the chill felt good against the heat emanating from the figure behind him. He drew in a long breath, inhaling Eren’s not entirely unpleasant smell as he weighed his options.

He could push for more information, or he could drop it, as he knew Eren would prefer. After all, he still didn't know how long Eren would be staying, this time.  

In the end, he twisted around until he could anchor a hand in Eren's messy hair, lifting himself up on his toes so he could press his lips briefly to the corner of Eren’s mouth.

Eren blinked in surprise, and then grinned down at him.

“Go. Shower. Dinner’s ready.” Levi pushed at the center of Eren’s chest.

“Okay.” Eren reluctantly pulled away.

Levi let his eyes linger, enjoying the way firm muscles flexed beneath naked skin as Eren walked out of the room. And then he turned back to flip the stove back on and pull another packet of fish out from the fridge.

Because as amazing as Eren’s ass was, it couldn’t distract from how much more clearly he could see Eren's rib cage standing out beneath his skin.


	3. Some Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I quite literally forgot how to smut during this chapter. I think I remembered, (hopefully) but it was interesting going for a while. 
> 
> Some people may have noticed this once said it was meant to be three chapters, but that was way back at the beginning when it was a MUCH simpler story and it definitely has more than that now. I'd say we're about a third of the way through? But I'm bad at estimating stuff like that so I just left it blank. 
> 
> In any case, please enjoy :)

A hockey game was playing on the TV when Levi switched off the kitchen light and walked back into the living room, but Eren wasn’t watching it. He was sprawled out on the dark leather couch, his arms tucked behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling.

Light from the screen cast moving shadows across the dark room, making a black mountain of the heaped junk pile that had fallen out of the closet, and highlighting the bare feet that poked out from well-washed sweatpants as Eren propped his legs up on the arm of the couch.

Levi heard the first grumble of thunder from outside as Eren tilted his head back and smiled at him, the frown that had been creasing his brow suddenly gone, as if it hadn't been there just a second earlier. He crossed the room, balancing the large bowl of popcorn he carried on one hand as pushed at Eren’s head with the other. “Move.”

Eren hitched his torso up, scooting forward just enough for Levi to sit and just missing the bowl when he let himself plop back down. He rubbed the back of his head into the muscle of Levi’s leg, for all the world like he was settling into a feather pillow.

“What are we watching?” He twisted his arm up, grabbing a handful of the popcorn.

“The news.”

“Do we have to?” The words were clear enough, despite the fact that he’d just stuffed the whole handful into his mouth.

Levi flicked at the top of his head. “My house. My TV. Give me the remote.”

Eren sighed, but he was already patting at the seat cushion beneath his back. As he handed back the remote, he pulled the plastic bowl away from Levi's hands and settled it on the slightly concave plane of his stomach.

“Don’t make a mess.” Levi flicked on the news, turning up the volume just enough to hear over the rain as it started rumbling on the roof above.

“I’ll be careful.” Eren dug one hand into the bowl and wedged the other behind his head, beneath Levi’s thigh.

“Right.” Reaching out, Levi caught the precariously balanced bowl just as it slid off of Eren’s stomach. “Idiot.”

As much as he always complained, Levi knew Eren was paying close attention to the TV.  He'd polished off the last of the popcorn within the first three minutes, before turning onto his side, his eyes intent on the screen, his concern apparent in the way his eyebrows dropped over his eyes, the crease between them reappearing, and in the tight set of his mouth.

He probably thought the shadowy room hid it all. And he probably didn’t notice the way his body tensed at the start of every new news segment, slowly relaxing as each had nothing to do with their area, or the hunt.

Levi had no idea what went on in the local wolf packs, and he knew Eren wouldn’t – or couldn’t - tell him, but the kid was completely oblivious to how much he let slip without saying a thing. Not enough that Levi could do anything about it, even if he had the slightest urge to dive into the shitstorm _that_ would likely cause, but  enough to frustrate the fuck out of him.

Levi was thoroughly irritated long before the chirpy weather lady appeared on the screen to tell them they’d have rain all weekend, and he couldn’t have cared less about whatever the movie was that started up after that.  

He could pinpoint the exact second Eren lost interest too. The hand still tucked beneath his leg started creeping further, his other arm curling up over Levi’s lap. As un-subtle as always, he braced his feet against the arm of the couch, twisting around onto his front and nuzzling his nose into the crease between Levi’s thigh and stomach.  

Irritation battling with amusement, Levi gripped Eren’s hair, pulling his head back with a little less gentleness than he might have otherwise. “Behave.”

Wincing, Eren pulled away, resting his hand on Levi’s thigh as he pushed himself up and pressed his lips to Levi’s. 

Amusement lost the battle. Levi knocked Eren’s bracing arm out from beneath him. As the younger man dropped, Levi wedged a hand into his hair, holding his face firmly turned towards the TV screen.

“Watch the damn movie.”

Twisting his body into some sort of normal position, as well as he could with Levi rigidly holding his head pressed against his thigh, Eren just sighed.

Levi let his own head drop back against the seat, his eyelids drooping as he made himself stare at the TV, though he still had no idea what was going on. Slowly, his grip softened in the silky, fur like hair.

Apart from the color of his eyes, Eren’s hair was just about the only thing that stayed mostly the same in both of his forms. Levi didn’t think he’d ever felt anything quite as soft. Almost without thought, his fingers started stroking, smoothing through the messy strands.

As his irritation eased, half in apology, Levi rubbed at Eren’s scalp where he’d yanked at the hair earlier.

Eren twisted onto his back, letting out another long, deep sigh, a happy one this time. He blinked lazily as he nuzzled into Levi’s stroking hand.

They sat quietly for a while after that, and Levi felt the last of his frustration slipping away. This time, when Eren’s eyes fixed on his and he slowly sat up, blocking out the light from the TV, settling his mouth back firmly over Levi’s, Levi didn't push him away. 

An insistent tongue pressed against his lips, Eren’s head slanting for better access as Levi let it slip inside. Almost instantly, it wasn’t enough. He twisted his arms behind Eren’s neck, biting down just hard enough to get Eren’s attention.

He got it. With a muffled groan, Eren reversed their positions, digging his fingers into the shorter man’s waist as he hiked him up and settled back onto the couch with Levi straddling his lap. His mouth pressed up against Levi’s with bruising force, his tongue as deep as he could go.

Dragging his mouth away, Levi nipped his way along the line of Eren’s jaw, savoring the way the breath brushing against his ear trembled. He licked softly at the tender skin just beneath Eren’s earlobe, and then dropped his mouth down to the bundle of sensitive nerves at the join of Eren’s neck and shoulder. He bit down, hard this time.

The sound Eren made had a shockwave of heat pulsing through Levi. The hands at his waist dug in almost to the point of true pain, and Eren pushed himself up between Levi’s legs with enough force to raise them both off the couch.

Teeth still firmly clamped in Eren’s skin, Levi ground his body down, rolling his hips against the solid shape pressing up against him through Eren’s sweatpants. From the feel of it, Eren hadn’t bothered with underwear, and for a moment Levi let himself wish his own snug jeans far away.

But he kept his hands well away from his own clothes as he slipped them up beneath the thin tee Eren wore, gliding over hot, taut skin, Eren’s heartbeat thumping loudly beneath his palms, against his lips.

Levi’s heartbeat wasn’t much better. But the still rational portion of his mind was telling him he needed to stop, very soon.

He unclenched his teeth, unable to resist giving one last lick to the red and white imprint as he let go. Lifting his hips up a crucial few inches, he pressed his cheek to the side of Eren’s head.

Eren’s hands slid behind Levi’s back, wrapping tightly around his waist, pulling him in as tightly as he could. "Levi?" He nudged his hips upwards.“Can I hold you tonight?” 

Already on edge, the words, and the feel of Eren between his legs, had another wave of heat rushing through Levi. He kept as much of it off his face as he could as he pulled his head away until he could meet Eren’s gaze. “How long before you have to head back out?”

Eren hesitated, his eyes shifting down and away. “You don't have to worry about that, I'll be fine.”

Which told Levi everything he needed to know. He shook his head. “You know better.”

When Eren’s full lower lip stuck out in a pout. Levi leaned forward and nipped at it. His body wasn’t happy with the choice either, but he couldn’t do anything else. When Eren got too worked up as a human - which included every time they had sex - he couldn’t handle the shift very well for a few days after.

He’d change back physically as soon as the sun came up - most of the younger wolves didn’t have much of a choice over that part - but his mind stayed too human.

He’d almost gotten himself killed more than once before his step-sister had stormed into the diner and let Levi know, very loudly, about the risk they were taking.

And that had been without the added worry of wolf hunters.

Levi slid off of Eren’s lap, settling back down onto the couch beside him and picking up the remote. He turned up the volume again. The rain overhead sounded more like a roar now, almost drowning out the occasional rumble of thunder. “Let’s just watch- whatever this thing is.”

Huffing out a breath, Eren slumped down on the couch. “I don’t wanna watch anymore.”

“Fine.” Levi flicked off the TV and stood. “I’m going to shower.”

Eren lunged off the couch, his arms wrapped tightly around Levi's waist before he could get more than a foot away. “Can't I just sleep in your bed tonight, at least? I’ll be good.”

Even as he spoke, one of his hands was already sliding down, knuckles brushing over the still tented front of Levi’s jeans.

Levi didn’t bother answering as he grabbed Eren’s index and middle finger and jerked them back, just hard enough.

With a yelp, Eren let go.

At the door to the bathroom, Levi made the mistake of glancing back, taking in Eren's dejected face and slumped shoulders as he nursed his abused fingers.

Stifling a sigh, Levi scrubbed a hand over the nape of his neck. “Fine.”

Eren’s head popped up, a smile quickly spreading across his face.

“Clean up your mess first though.”

Turning to follow Levi’s nod, Eren’s eyes widened as he spotted the mound of stuff he’d dumped out of the closet earlier. He jumped up from the couch, stumbling as he ran across the room and started cramming it all back in.

Shaking his head as he heard the cracking sound of something breaking deep inside the closet, Levi turned and headed into the bathroom.

“Ah-“

Glancing back, Levi’s eyebrow shot up at the hesitant grin on Eren’s face.

“Want me to scrub your back?”

Levi slammed the bathroom door behind him.

 

___

 

Hours later, Levi woke.

He didn’t feel Eren’s smothering heat against his back, or any of the taller man’s limbs poking at him anywhere. There wasn’t usually much of the bed safe when Eren slept over.

Levi opened his eyes, turning his head. It was still dark, and he could hear the edges of the storm not too far away. He hadn’t been asleep for long.

Eren sat on the edge of the bed, unnaturally still, his arms wrapped around his knees as he stared out the full length glass doors leading to the backyard, and the forest beyond that. 

Levi had picked this house, and this room, because of those doors. He liked them. He appreciated always being able to see outside, and knowing that he could just walk out whenever he wanted.

But when his eyes scanned over Eren’s profile as the younger man stared out into the darkness, he found himself wishing he’d pulled the curtains shut before they went to bed.

Wearing only the boxers Levi had insisted on, the curve of Eren’s spine was clearly visible beneath his skin, all highlights and shadows in the dim glow from the light over the back door. He stiffened, and a motion at the edge of the forest had Levi’s attention switching outside, through the windows.

Two wolves stepped out from between the trees, staring towards the house. They came to a halt just outside the pool of light.  

Eren stood. He had his boxers off before he’d reached the bedroom door, and then he was gone without a backwards look.

The wolves in his yard were already turning away when Levi heard the screen door slam shut. He threw his arm over his eyes, willing himself to sleep, refusing to allow himself to watch for the large brown wolf he knew must be running towards the forest.   

Suddenly the bed felt very, very cold. 


	4. The Race

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got to watch lots of wolf videos again, and also wolfhowl.org is absolutely invaluable. This is Eren's POV, which was interesting to work on.

Three wolves loped through the sleeping forest. The glow of the pre-dawn sky hadn’t quite made it through the canopy of the last stubborn autumn leaves, leaving the space beneath somewhere in the murky middle between day and night.

The wolf leading the small pack was solidly built, muscular, and broad. He barreled across the forest floor in a nearly-straight line, paying little attention to anything that attempted to get in his way. There was nothing quiet about the way he moved; in the silence of early morning the sound of snapping twigs and tangles of underbrush ripping out of the ground seemed to echo for miles and miles.

It was too early for the birds that hadn’t yet flown south to be up, late enough that the nocturnal hunters had already burrowed themselves away, and the three wolves were standing out.

But then, they weren’t particularly worried about stealth today.

The second in the pack was smaller and leaner, though he’d still stand a full head taller than the average wolf. His size and thick coat of solidly brown fur marked him as unusual, but it was his unmistakably bright green eyes that would have told anyone looking at him that he was clearly something other than pure wolf.

He followed in the first’s footsteps, just a little more closely than was necessary, or smart, near enough that he kept getting hit by low-lying branches as they sprang back into place.

Shaking his head as a particularly painful branch whipped across his nose, Eren fell back a step. He knew better, but he still itched to take the lead. No one could beat Reiner when it came to forcing a path through difficult terrain, and Eren knew they’d be half again as slow if he was in the front, but his legs itched to stretch out.

Dead leaves and pine needles stirred beneath their claws as they raced along. The ground was soft enough that they’d have left clear tracks, even without the debris left behind by Reiner’s progress, but today they wanted to leave as many traces of wolf as possible.

The more they kept the hunters running in circles, the better.

And besides, staying completely hidden was never much of an option with Berthold around. The massive wolf was lagging behind, as always. Eren could hear him crashing through the forest some distance back, a little further than usual. His size was at a disadvantage when they traveled at speed over anything but wide open plains.

Eren’s nostrils twitched as he caught the recent scent of a fourth wolf. His bottom jaw dropped, tongue lolling out, and his ears swiveled forwards. A second later he was dashing around Reiner’s bulk. He ignored the thorny brambles that caught at his fur as he leaped over one last leaf covered mound, landing at the edge of a small clearing.

The fourth member of their pack sat quietly in the center. By far the smallest of them all, Annie’s trim form and quiet stillness fooled many into mistaking her for the weakest. Pale blue eyes traveled from Eren, to Reiner, and then followed the very audible sounds coming from the forest behind them. Her ears flattened against her head, and Eren and Reiner quickly stepped aside.

When Berthold finally appeared, he kept his head firmly turned away from the tiny female wolf, tail lowered and tucked against his legs.

Annie stood, darting forward in the same motion, circling around to nip at Berthold’s hind legs. The big wolf jerked sideways with a whine. He took two steps away and dropped his whole body down, flattening himself against the ground, the only way he could get his head below hers.

The small wolf, not even half his size, snapped at his snout once more, and then backed away. She turned, sniffing in welcome with the other two wolves as Berthold slowly got back to his feet.

The huge wolf ducked his head, ears flattened to the side as he inched towards the others. His tense muscles relaxed when Annie sniffed back at him, her irritation evidently appeased. Relieved, he shook his whole body as if he'd just stepped out from the cold lake, and Eren had to jump aside when Berthold’s massive hindquarters nearly knocked him to the ground.

By the time they were ready to start off again, the large wolf's tail was up and waving slightly, and Eren made sure to stay a good few feet away from it.   

With one short bark, Annie took off into the woods. Eren could hear Reiner and Berthold behind them as he dashed after her, but this time he wasn’t planning on tamely following in anyone’s tracks.  

His legs stretching out, he sped up until he was nearly even with her. Trees flashed by between them as he watched her shift from a lope to a gallop, and then they were racing all out.

They quickly outdistanced the others, Eren only just keeping up with Annie. His muscles burned, he felt the cold air burning in his chest, and he felt delight spreading through his whole body. Maybe this time he might even end up winning, or at least not embarrassing himself too badly.

Annie swung slightly to the side, weaving around a long, fallen tree trunk, a little higher than they’d normally try jumping over. Seizing his chance, Eren kept on straight, launching himself into the air with a powerful push from his hind legs. As he cleared the tree with room to spare he had enough time to think he might really beat Annie this time, and then his paws were scrambling for purchase as he landed in the soft, sandy dirt on the far side. He was back up to speed within two strides, but Annie had pulled ahead just a little bit further. 

As they raced, Eren felt his human thoughts slipping away, all thoughts of plans, and future and past. In their place he felt himself growing more alert, more aware of his body and everything around them here in this forest. His pack and the animals slowly waking up around them were all that mattered, their familiar scents grew sharper, more distinct; he could sense Annie’s satisfaction, and the happiness she’d hate to know he knew about, the startled fear of the wildlife as they passed, and the occasional faint whiff of human or other wolf.

The forest brightened around them, light gradually filtering through as the sun started to ease up over the horizon. The small portion left of Eren’s mind that was still aware he sometimes wasn’t a wolf noted the increasing visibility with satisfaction. As vibrant as color became when he was human, Eren didn’t miss it at all when he ran as a wolf – nothing blurred, everything was as sharp as if he was standing still. He could see everything perfectly, from the detail on the leaves Annie stirred up as she raced ahead of him to the way a petrified, early morning squirrel’s tail fluffed up when he froze in the face of the two wolves speeding directly towards him.

Jolting into action as Annie leaped over him, the squirrel darted towards a nearby tree, making Eren stumble as he ran right in front of the brown wolf’s legs.

In the end, Eren finished a full five strides behind Annie. He took some satisfaction from the fact that she was panting hard – he’d been slower than Berthold in a dense forest the first few times he’d challenged her to a race.  

They’d both nearly caught their breath when Reiner trotted out from the trees behind them, with Berthold nowhere near as far behind this time. The big wolf ducked his head, tail waving as Annie yipped at him, in approval this time. 

The big wolf carried on forward, ducking under the outstretched limbs of a large pine tree, rearing up on his hind legs with his front braced against the tree trunk as he stretched up to his full length. A moment later he dropped to the ground, his teeth gripping the strap of a camouflaged backpack that had been hidden by needle covered tree branches.

Annie was already changing as Berthold dropped the pack in front of her, the familiar sensation raising the hackles on the napes of the three other wolves. Berthold turned fully away, dropping to the ground as he let himself catch his breath. Eren had his head turned, eyes averted, until he caught a glimpse of Reiner with ears perked forward as he sat on his haunches, his gaze firmly fixed on Annie.

Eren nudged his shoulder against the larger wolf, dropping his muzzle when he inadvertently caught a glimpse of Annie’s naked human form as she unzipped the bag and started pulling out her clothes. When Reiner ignored a second, harder nudge, Eren huffed out a breath. His human mind was back in control when he moved to stand in front of Reiner and reared up on his back legs, dropping his whole body over the wolf's head.

Reiner barked, half growling as he snapped at Eren, but by the time they were done tussling Annie was mostly dressed.

“Stay here.” Annie pulled a puffy orange down vest out of the bag, slipping it over her camouflage jacket. “If anyone comes this way, try being quiet, for once.” She studied the three wolves as she zipped up the vest. “Bert, maybe you should change too. Fido here can pass as a pet, at least.”

Eren growled, but Berthold was already changing and Annie ignored the young wolf as she turned to Reiner. “Stay hidden, okay? We need to know how many hunters there are before we lead them off anywhere.”

The big wolf nodded, letting out a huff as he settled to the ground under the pine tree, his eyes turning to watch as Berthold started pulling on his own clothes from the bag.

Eren felt very human jealousy spread through him as he listened to Annie moving away through the forest on her human legs. He closed his eyes, willing himself to change with every muscle in his body. He felt his heart speed up, his blood rushing through his veins as if he were racing again, but he stayed a wolf.

He knew he’d come so far from those first few months after he’d first woken up as a wolf, when he’d barely remembered he’d ever been human, let alone been able to change back into one. The night helped – somehow the 'were' part of the shifters was stronger after the sun went down – but he wanted to be strong enough to change whenever he wanted. After nearly eight years of trying he still couldn’t manage much more than ten minutes before sundown.

With a sigh, he opened his eyes to find Berthold sitting on the ground, watching him.

“It will come, Eren. Give it time.” The tall man saw Eren’s eyes shift in Reiner’s direction. He smiled. “He’s different.”    

In apology for the sadness he could see behind the man’s smile, Eren brushed his head against Berthold’s shoulder. He didn't know why Reiner seemed to be stuck in his wolf form, but he knew whatever the reason was, it made Bert unhappy to be reminded of it. A broad hand came up and patted the top of Eren’s head, then dropped back down.

As Reiner slept, and Berthold stared off into the trees, Eren wasted time snuffing through the leaves for bugs to chase. His thoughts were occupied in calculating when he’d next be able to get out to Levi’s place. If things went well, maybe he could even spend that night, and the whole of Sunday.

Which meant he might be able to talk the man into more than just sleeping in the same bed.

He was lost in happy thoughts when they heard someone walking through the trees towards them. Berthold was ready and changing back before Annie stepped back into the clearing and started pulling off her clothes.

“There’s a few new ones, not as many as we thought. They’re planning on focusing around the river to the east, and a bunch of them are heading north of the lake. I told them I’d have a large party hunting to the south west, so Nanaba’s pack should be safe.” She stuffed her shoes and jacket into the bag, and started on her shirt as Eren turned his head away. “I met Oluo on the way, he and Gunther will keep the wolves near the lake away, so we just need to keep the rest of the hunters moving eastwards.”

Eren perked up at that. Levi was to the east, and keeping hunters entertained was easy – the wolves just had to stay close enough to let them get off a few shots, so they could go home and tell their friends about the big wolf that only just got away.

The day was looking like it was going to be fun.

And best of all he might even get to Levi’s house in time for dinner.

 


	5. Restless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a super short chapter, but I kept coming back and editing this part instead of working on the next so I figured I'd better post it so I can stop worrying over it and move on. 
> 
> I'm having lots of fun giving Levi a hard time right now. I hope you all enjoy it too :)

 

It was nearly lunch time. Levi had wasted all of an hour pretending he was going to fall back asleep after Eren left, before giving up.

He’d been cleaning ever since.

He’d vacuumed all the carpets and drapes, bleached every counter he could find in the house, scrubbed the sinks, the tub, and the shower, stripped, washed, and replaced all the covers off the bed and the couch. He’d dusted everything he could think of, even his sister’s room. She hated him going in there when she was away at college, but winter break wasn’t for another month, and Isabel wasn’t one to notice the difference between a semesters’ worth of dust, or none, unless Levi physically pressed her nose into it.  

Stepping down off the step ladder he’d been using to reach the blades of the ceiling fan, Levi carefully folded his dusty cloth as he scanned the living room. The stark white walls were bright, clean. He’d already wiped down the baseboards.  

For the tenth time that morning, his eyes landed on the paw shaped smudges and scratches on the wardrobe door. His lips tightened, his brown creasing in a scowl. And then - as he’d done all morning - he turned on his stockinged heel and stalked away.

The kid was somehow becoming more and more irritating. Especially when he wasn’t there.

Stowing the stepladder on the wall and dropping the dirty rag into the wash basket, Levi headed to the kitchen. He flipped on the tea kettle and pulled a mug and black tea bag from the cabinet. As he waited for the water to boil, he stood with his hands braced on the freshly cleaned counter and let his eyes travel out through the kitchen window.

The sun was well up, shining through the occasional gap in the heavy clouds that had started moving back in sometime after dawn. The strip of forest he could see at the edge of his backyard was dark, the few leaves still clinging to branches already past the bright color of autumn to the grey-brown of early winter. Within three weeks the last of those leaves would be on the ground, maybe already covered in snow, if the elderly locals were right in their predictions.

Hunting season would be over. 

The kettle let out a long whistle, making Levi blink as he turned away from the window. It clicked itself off as he pulled the carafe out from the base and poured the steaming water into his mug. Wrapping his fingers around the warmth, Levi leaned his back against the counter. Steam billowed up over his face as he sipped, his eyes down and his thoughts deep in the forest.

He hoped Eren was being careful, but he wasn’t sure the idiot was capable of that.

With a snort, Levi shook his head. His gaze landed on the mug in his hands and he froze, eyes widening as he lifted it up to eye level. It was new. He was certain he’d never seen it before. The roughly drawn, heavily muscled man beaming out at him was memorable enough he didn’t think he could have forgotten, even without the addition of the garish green and orange words ‘SEX GOD’ and ‘Ask for details’ printed across the mostly naked man’s legs.

Letting out a deep sigh, Levi turned and dumped out the rest of his tea. This felt like Erwin’s doing. If it had been Hange, or Mike, the man would have probably been naked.

He started to throw the cup away, but hesitated with his foot already holding down the lever to the metal trash can. After a brief internal struggle, he let the lid slam back down as he turned back to the sink, scrubbing out the cup and setting it safely in the drying rack.

He was already stripping off his cleaning clothes as he walked back towards his bedroom. He needed to get out of the house. He’d head to the diner. He was sure he could find something to clean there, at least.  


	6. Noisy Distractions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! That little hiatus was- a great deal longer than I'd planned. But I'm planning on working on this and my other two ongoing fics as much as possible (I will do my very best to resist the attractions of starting anything new/other until I get these ones done) 
> 
> This chapter's working title was 'Levi and the people that won't shut up', which is still fairly accurate. One of the main reason it took me so long to get moving again on this fic (apart from being easily distracted) is because of the sheer number of characters. I don't know why I do this to myself, and I'm still not sure everything makes sense. 
> 
> I hope it does, and I hope you enjoy this, and I'm looking forward to writing the rest!

More than three quarters of the tables were full when Levi pushed open the door to the diner. Not a bad turnout for a Saturday afternoon this time of year.  It was too late for the summer tourists that packed themselves into the campgrounds north of town, and most of the hunters that flooded the area during the season usually stuck to their cabins and tents. 

Not today, though. As Levi walked through the main dining area, he spotted more than a few unfamiliar, beard covered faces mixed in with an overabundance of green, brown, tan, and bright orange fabric. He also couldn’t help noticing the distinct stench of damp clothing and bodies that didn’t have access to decent showers, though that quickly faded as he wound his way through the tables, overpowered by the much more pleasant aroma of baking bread that seemed to be emanating from the kitchen.

Levi ducked behind the bar, nodding at Moblit as he pushed open the double doors. 

Warm, fragrant air surrounded him. He wasn’t surprised to see Armin standing next to Hange, leaning over a stainless steel table covered with large baking trays.

Levi knew full well one of the main reasons the diner survived as well as it did was because of these two – Hange was a genius when it came to experimenting with ingredients, and Armin always seemed to know exactly what would sell best, and when. Levi had heard more than one tourist say the reason they picked this tiny, quiet, northern town every summer was because of the food.

Armin glanced up, smiling. “Hey Levi. Want to try some?”

“What are they?” But Levi was already reaching for the flat biscuit Armin held out towards him. 

“They were meant to be soup crackers, but Hange suggested we make them a little fluffier. They’re made from ground up vegetable peelings, and some other leftovers we weren’t sure what to do with.”

The thing was good, full of flavor, almost melting in Levi’s mouth. “The smell is helpful, too.”

“Yeah, lucky timing, huh?” Hange’s mouth was full of biscuit as she grinned at them both.  

Armin beamed back at her, almost as if he hadn’t planned it all out in advance.

The doors thudded loudly against the wall as Jean, one of the waiters who worked weekends, rushed into the kitchen carrying a full tray of dirty dishes. He paled, his eyes going wide when they landed on Levi. “Mr Ackerman, you’re here today?”

“Clearly.”

“Oh. Right. Of course. Ha ha.”

Levi slowly chewed the last of his biscuit, arms crossed and hip resting against the table as he watched Jean hurry across the room, setting the tray down beside the sink with a loud clatter and almost tripping over his own feet in his rush to leave.

As the door swung shut behind him, Levi glanced at Armin. “What was that about?”

“He was really late this morning. Hange already chewed him up for it, but I think he’s more scared of you.”

“Really?” Hange didn’t often get mad, but nobody ever forgot when she did.

“She held back.”

“Ah.” Pushing away from table, Levi pulled off his coat and hung it in the small closet to one side of the kitchen. When he turned back he found Hange and Armin watching him, an odd look on both their faces. “What?”

Armin bit his lip, looking down and busying himself with rolling out dough. Hange just grinned at Levi.

He was still frowning when he pushed open the doors and headed back out to the dining area, and it didn’t help that the first two faces he spotted were Mike and Erwin’s, sitting at the bar. Mike was nursing his usual beer, Erwin a mug of coffee, but the grins that spread across their faces at the sight of Levi were identical, and matched the one he’d just seen on Hange.

Levi did his best to ignore them. A quick glance around had his mood improving. The floor was clean, the glass was spotless, the metal surfaces gleamed. He ran a finger over the back of the bar, pleased to find it smooth and not the slightest bit sticky. He nodded at Moblit, who watched him out of the corner of his eye as he poured a tray full of drinks.

The man was as thorough as Levi when it came to keeping the diner clean. Which was a very good thing, except when Levi needed something to distract himself.

Very carefully not making eye contact with Levi, Jean stepped back behind the bar, depositing empty cups by the glass washer. He was reaching for the tray Moblit had been working on when the bell over the door rang, and he glanced over as another local stepped inside.

The tray in Jean’s hands tilted towards the floor, the drinks quickly sliding downwards. Levi stepped forward, gripping the edge and steadying it.

Jean’s head whipped around, eyes wide as he realized what had almost happened.

Levi lifted a brow.

“I’m so sorry.” Jean slowly stepped backwards until his back hit the bar. Making a show of gripping the tray tightly, he slid sideways and away as fast as he could. “I’m just gonna go… go.”

As the kid escaped, Levi gave an exasperated sigh. “Am I really that terrifying?” He had more than enough people he wished would leave him alone, but it had been a while since anyone had reacted quite like _that_.  

The second waiter on duty, Hitch, had stepped up the bar, leaning across to hand Moblit her empty carafe of coffee. She smirked after Jean’s retreating back. “To him, yes. He screwed up though, big time. He deserves to suffer today.” She turned, waving at the newcomer as he made his way towards them. “Hey, Marco. What brings you here?”

“Hi, Hitch.” Marco smiled at her as he handed over a brown paper bag. “You forgot your lunch.”

“Aww, thanks. C’mere.” She slung arm around his neck and leaned up, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

Levi heard Moblit sigh beside him.

The diner was slowly going quiet as each table caught wind of the drama happening near the bar, and in the spreading silence Jean’s voice stood out clearly.  

“What are you doing?” He was hesitantly making his way back towards them, the full tray still in his arms. From the rapt stares of nearly every customer in the diner, Levi didn’t think whatever table Jean had been heading towards minded the wait.

Hitch didn’t pull away, tightening her grip around Marco’s neck, hanging against his torso. “I told you. Kisses are reserved for boyfriends, and then roommates. Jerks that don’t call when they say they will, and turn up late for work because they’ve been hanging out with some girl all night don’t count as a boyfriend. So he’s all mine now.”

“Don't, Hitch.” Marco gently removed her arm, setting her a little away from him. He smiled at Jean. “Mikasa texted me this morning. She said you guys managed to finish painting her new place.”

“Y-yeah. They’re bringing in the furniture today.” Jean shuffled his feet. “I’m sorry I forgot to call you when it went late.”

“It’s fine-”   

Hitch snorted, picking up the now full carafe Moblit had set on the bar. She stepped in close to Jean. “You better treat my roommate right, or I’m taking him.”  

Jean scowled “As if you could.”

“Try me.”  

The whole diner was still, not a single person moving as they stared at the little tableau. Even Erwin and Mike were watching, obviously entertained. Levi decided he’d had enough. “Hitch. You obviously have plenty of energy, why don’t you see about handling some of those tables waiting for you.”

With a muttered ‘killjoy’ over her shoulder, Hitch flounced off.

Jean shuffled his feet. “Marco, I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine-” 

Marco’s response was again cut off, this time by an elderly lady, a regular, and a local terror, sitting at one of the window tables. She let out a loud chortle, clapping her hands. “All these pretty boys and girls. So full of _vigor_.” The young man sitting at her table, her great grandson, tried to get her to lower her volume, with no success. “Why, coming here is far more entertaining than _any_ of my shows. And such lovely eye candy too.”

“Nana, please.”

“And you Franz. Where’s that girl you’ve been mooning over?”

Franz flushed, glancing around and meeting the sympathetic smiles of a good portion of the room.

“What’s her name again? Annie? Marie?” The woman loudly carried on cycling through names, to Franz’s great embarrassment.

Gradually, the rest of the customers turned back to their food, their drinks, and their own conversations. Levi shook his head, watching as Jean led Marco to a table as far from Hitch’s section as possible. 

Erwin coughed, loudly. “So how _is_ that dog of yours? Did you get him all tucked into bed last night?”

Levi did his best not to actually growl. “Shut the hell up.”

Mike pulled his glass away from his lips, letting it dangle from his fingers as he made a show of studying Levi. “Say Levi, isn’t that shirt a little big for you?”

Blinking, Levi glanced down. He hadn’t paid any attention when he'd gotten dressed – it was his day off, he was going in to clean. He'd put on one of the sweatshirts he kept for Eren. It was huge, and had the emblem of the high school Eren had gone to boldly emblazoned over the chest.

He scowled.

The two men grinned back at him.

And now he knew why everybody kept looking at him so strangely. Giving up, Levi turned on his heel, heading back to the kitchen.

He’d find something there to occupy himself, as far from other people as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to make one point on Hitch, that I COULD NOT work out how to put in the text. I figured if Marco had ended up in the Military Police she would have eventually been impressed by him, in all sorts of ways, but also protective of him - because he's not weak at all, but he's an idealist with strong convictions. 
> 
> So in this fic she's his roommate, and while I'm not sure she'd actually wind up dating him ever, she'd have a real problem with anyone that hurt him. So she'd do her best to make sure Jean didn't take him for granted, however she had to do that. And she'd probably pick the way that sounded the most fun, and took the least effort. 
> 
> That is all :)


	7. Surprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter from Eren's POV. I hope you all like it :)

 

Eren kicked off from the ground, stretching to his full length as he leapt over water. He landed a little off-center, his nails scraping, scrabbling for purchase on wet stone. Regaining his balance, he braced himself to hop to the next rock, a little further across the wide stream, and nearly slid into the water again.

He heard Reiner snort behind him.

The big wolf didn’t bother following Eren’s example; instead he waded straight into the cold water, his sturdy body forcing the fast-flowing stream – swollen by the rain from the night before - to split around him as he made his way steadily across to the far side.

The two wolves had spent the day laying tracks, attracting the hunters’ attention. Bert and Annie had stuck to the outskirts, dealing with anyone that seemed to be breaking away or looking for more of a challenge. Few hunters could resist the lure of the oversized wolf – one glimpse, even from a distance, was usually enough, and Annie’s speed and stealth meant she could get in very, very close, teasing any hunter left over until they couldn’t help but follow her.

Staying close to the water’s edge, they headed downstream towards their meeting spot, deliberately leaving occasional prints in the damp, rocky earth. They were far enough away now that there was no smell of human in the air, and the sun was well on its way back down to the horizon. The hunters were running out of daylight. If they hadn’t already, they would soon be heading back to their camps, or finding stationary spots for night hunting. The tracks would keep any early-morning hunters occupied until they could be redirected away from any true wolves that wandered into the area.

There shouldn’t be any – others were doing their best to keep them away, but true wolves didn’t always trust the were wolves, especially the ones that still turned human occasionally, and they didn’t take well to being corralled.

They could also move very quickly when they wanted to.   

But for now, this part of the forest was clear, so the longer they kept the hunters interested, the better.

Reiner huffed at Eren before angling away from the water, rubbing his shoulder against the base of a tree and leaving strands of his fur behind.  

The traces they were leaving wouldn’t have fooled any locals. Their tracks were larger, for the most part, and far too obvious. But then, no local would hunt wolves. They rarely hunted anything at all. Partly because the weres, even the ones that didn’t remember being anything but wolf, liked playing pranks on any humans that stepped into their territory; leading them in circles, stealing their supplies or prey, running off with their clothing if they happened to take any of it off – and sometimes if they didn’t.

The main reason locals didn’t hunt much, of course, was because no one wanted to be responsible for even accidentally shooting a wolf. For all they knew, it could be a member of their own family, or – more dangerously – a neighbor’s family.

The sound of frothing water intensified as the stream they were following met a second, and they neared the small natural pool both fed into. They were still upwind, but Eren could smell Bert – he must have already arrived. Eren caught a whiff of what might have been Annie, and then froze as he scented something else far too familiar.

The diner.

He yipped softly.

Reiner stopped, turning his head back and twisting his ears towards Eren questioningly.

Eren stepped closer to the tree line, sniffing at the air. The trace of scent was gone, but he knew he’d definitely smelled something that shouldn’t be there.

He padded away from the stream, heading into the forest.

After a moment’s hesitation, Reiner followed him.

This time, they weren’t leaving tracks. This part of the forest had been hit hard by the storms the night before, and Eren carefully placed his steps between piled up drifts of rain-dampened leaves, and underbrush, aiming for as little noise as possible. He couldn’t help but notice that the wolf behind him was better at it than him. Reiner was very nearly soundless, despite his bulk.

The water was an almost inaudible rumble behind them when he caught the distinct scent of smoke, and then coffee, canvas, metal. Another stray wisp of the diner. The murmur of voices.

There was a camp ahead.

Reiner shifted up, nudging Eren out of the way as he took the lead. They crept forward until they could clearly see through the sparse foliage.

The small camp didn’t look as if it had been there long. It was set in a half-circle at the base of an old oak tree. Two tents were up, and a pair of men in puffy jackets were in the process of assembling a third. Another man stood over a campstove – the source of the coffee smell, most likely - and as Eren and Reiner watched, a fourth pushed his way out from one of the tents and made his way over to a short stack of rifles and shotguns propped up against the tree’s broad trunk.

The wolves didn’t need the guns to tell them the men were hunters, of course, but whether they were hunting wolf was uncertain. It didn’t really matter. There shouldn’t be any hunters this far into this territory, not yet.

Reiner’s side brushed Eren’s shoulder as he slid backwards. With one last searching glance, Eren followed.   

They headed back to the stream at a slight angle, aiming for their original meeting point. They moved faster now. They’d meet Bert and Annie, regroup, work out what to do next. Eren was pretty sure his plans for spending the night at Levi’s were shot.

The water was close enough, loud enough, to drown out the slight sounds of their progress when they stumbled across the fifth hunter.  

If Eren had been just a little more lost in his thoughts, he’d have been spotted first. As it was, it took him a full stride before he registered the meaning behind the flash of light on metal.

Huffing a warning, he dropped low to the ground, eyes carefully picking out the rest of the camouflaged hunter as Reiner shifted over to his side.

She was perched in the natural cradle between two tangled treed, completely motionless, rifle propped on a tall stand in front of her. She blended in perfectly, almost invisible against the forest. Eren could smell both Annie and Bert clearly now, which meant she’d probably picked this spot carefully, downwind of the pool.

Reiner had gone completely still beside him, but Eren could hear, and feel, the low growl that rumbled through the big wolf’s body. Eren didn’t know what the girl was hunting, but it didn’t matter. She wasn’t meant to be there. She had a rifle pointed at the safe place they’d picked out.

For the first time since he’d heard about the wolf hunt, Eren felt real fear deep in his chest.

He glanced to the side. Reiner’s teeth were bared, his hackles up, his eyes fixed on the girl’s face. He was braced to attack. Whatever way this ended, it didn’t look like it was going to end well.

Eren’s head swung back around an instant before the girl’s back went rigid, her hands tensing around the gun.

As her finger tightened on the trigger, Eren felt Reiner beside him, gathering himself to pounce.

Jerking into motion, Eren knocked Reiner aside with his shoulder as he took two racing strides forward and leaped.

With a startled yell, the girl fell back, the rifle stand crashing down on top of her. As Eren landed on the ground in front of her, he heard the gun go off. Heat grazed his side.

From the way she flinched at the loud crack of sound, Eren didn’t think she’d actually meant to pull the trigger. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Reiner slowly pacing towards them, but the big wolf’s fur had settled, and he seemed to be focused on Eren, not the girl.   

Which was good in many ways, but since she still had a gun aimed at Eren’s head they weren’t exactly out of danger yet.

Something was crashing through the forest, coming from the direction of the camp. “Sam?” A loud voice called out. “Is everything okay?”

Silently, the girl stared at Eren, the butt of the rifle still nestled against her chest, the barrel pointed firmly in Eren’s direction.

Reiner started growling.

Deliberately, Eren held absolutely still as he crouched between her and the water, his eyes fixed on hers, and his lip firmly over his teeth. He wished he could just tell her to leave, but he had to settle for trying to look as unthreatening and yet firmly unmovable as possible.  

Her eyes widened as they flicked to the forest behind him. An instant later Eren heard Bert, smelled Annie.

“Sam! Answer me, are you okay?” The voice was nearly on them, and sounded panicked now.

Annie yipped, and Reiner stopped growling. The small tableau went completely silent.

The girl’s eyes shifted back to meet Eren’s. Slowly, she lowered the gun, lifting her chin as she called back. “It’s okay, dad, I’m fine.”

Berthold stepped forward, using his nose to nudge Reiner back in the direction of the pool. As the two wolves moved away, Eren heard Annie follow, and slowly, slowly, Eren backed away after them.  

He was still in the clearing when two of the men they’d seen at the camp crashed in, through the trees. One went straight to the girl’s side, but it wasn’t until their eyes met that Eren realized he recognized the second one.

He had a flash of memory of that face, staring out at him through the diner window the night before, and then was distracted when the first man started lifting his gun.

Eren turned and fled.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is about three quarters of the way written, but I'm out of time for this week - depending on how stuff goes, hopefully I'll be able to write some after work and get it posted before next Friday. I have two other Ereri, one Winmin, and one Levihan fic that I am DYING to work on, but I'm not allowed until I finish the ones I've already started. 
> 
> Which is so hard, so so hard.


	8. Splinters Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the short first part of a long-ish chapter, back in Levi's POV (and I really do enjoy giving him a hard time in this story, he has no idea)

 

Levi heard the loud ring of the diner’s phone from deep inside the walk in fridge. He stayed where he was, on his knees, his upper body wedged in between empty shelves as he scrubbed at the aluminum walls. Hange wouldn’t stop whatever she was doing to answer the phone – even if she noticed it was ringing, which was unlikely – but there was a second handset out in the bar area.

The last thing Levi wanted to do right now was deal with people, or do anything at all but clean. He’d spent the whole of his Saturday cleaning, and then he’d spent his Sunday doing the same thing. And now it was Monday afternoon, the diner was gleaming, and he’d managed to spend long stretches of his days not thinking about the dog.

He hadn’t done so well at night. His bed smelled like Eren, even after flipping the mattress and changing the sheets twice. The couch had been worse. He refused to sleep on the floor, and using his sister’s room wouldn’t have been worth it when she eventually found out. So he’d given up on sleep, and his house was now very, very clean.

As he ran his sponge across the walls, Levi felt the tiredness dulling his thoughts, adding weight to his limbs. From old experience he knew he’d gone past the point he could just lie down and sleep. Every bit of energy he had left was slowly seeping away, and once it was all gone, he’d go under. When he finally woke up he’d have to try to put in a normal schedule again.

Scowling, Levi scrubbed at a particularly stubborn discoloration on the wall. It had been a while since he’d gone through _that_ whole sequence. When he’d packed up his life and his little sister, following Hange, Mike, Erwin, and Moblit to this quiet, nearly empty town, they’d all been searching for a place to be at peace. And for the most part it had worked. The discovery of the town’s furry little secret had been an unexpected surprise but it hadn’t been too hard to come to grips with, perhaps because of Levi and his friends’ unusually adventurous history, perhaps because the town’s residents genuinely didn’t seem to find anything strange about the fact that some of their population turned into wolves. 

And Levi really didn’t know why he was getting so worked up now. It wasn’t as though Eren’s absences were a new thing. He’d been disappearing without warning ever since the days Levi had just known him as the stray dog – maybe part wolf, maybe mostly wolf – with a strange attachment to the sunny patch directly in front of Levi’s door. 

But somehow, that last memory of Eren’s back as he walked away had stabbed itself firmly into Levi’s thoughts. It felt like a sharp, irritating, splinter.

And here he was thinking about the dog again.

Shuffling his way back out from between the shelves, Levi sat back on his heels and squeezed the dirty water from the sponge, before dropping it into a second steaming bucket. As his eyes carefully scanned the room for any trace of dirt, he ducked the bottom half of his face into the scarf he’d wrapped around his neck, giving his nose a chance to warm up. It took too long, and cost too much in energy to cool the fridge back down again, so he hadn’t bothered turning it off to clean.  

Both pleased and frustrated to find nothing left to scrub, Levi turned to the large plastic tub he’d used to store all the food from the shelves. He was wrestling the lid off when he heard the double doors to the kitchen slam back against the wall, and then someone was yanking open the door to the fridge.

Hitch stood in the doorway, eyes wide, concerned, cordless phone still tightly gripped in her hand.

“It’s Eren.”

Levi felt as if a ball of ice had suddenly formed in his gut. He got to his feet.

Hitch took a full step back before hurriedly carrying on. “He’s hurt, but he’s okay.”

“Where is he?”  Levi was already moving, yanking off his yellow plastic gloves as he stepped past her.

“At Mike’s. They tried to reach you on your cell, but-” 

With a nod, Levi swept out through the kitchen doors.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I see it on AO3 it really is SO SHORT I'M SO SORRY I'll work really hard to post the next bit tomorrow I'm gonna promise now


	9. Splinters Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so I'm late AGAIN and I'm sorry. Also I've decided on short and more frequent chapters? It's an experiment and we'll see how it goes this weekend :)

Mike’s office was a half block from the diner, in a grand old house the former surgeon had rebuilt from the ground up. He’d converted the first two floors into a clinic – originally intended for humans, but it had quickly become the go-to place for almost-canines too.

As well as a whole assortment of local family pets, much to Mike’s frustration.

Cold raindrops splattered across already wet pavement as Levi hurried down the street, drenching his hair and shoulders and slowly soaking up the legs of his pants. The worst of the rain held off until just before he’d reached the ornate gate that led to the front gardens, but the fresh downpour was enough to saturate every inch of dry clothing he’d had left.

Hitch’s words – that Eren was okay, but hurt – kept circling in Levi’s head. How okay was okay? He was certain that meant Eren’s life wasn’t in danger, but there was a whole range left open between life-threatening and truly ‘okay’.

He hoped the idiot hadn’t been shot.  

The blast of warm air as he stepped inside was welcome. Swiping his hands up over his face, brushing back the hair that kept dripping water into his eyes, Levi searched the vast entryway lobby for any sign of Eren. There was nothing, as he’d expected, but his eyes landed on Mike’s admin, Hannah. She sat on one of the couches going through a stack of paperwork with a very nervous looking teenage boy.

She glanced up, spotting Levi, and with a pat on the shoulder and a soft smile that had the boy’s flush deepening she quickly stood and crossed to Levi’s side.

“Please don’t worry, Eren’s fine, really.” She’d lowered her voice, likely to keep the few other occupants of the lobby from hearing.

Levi felt some of the tension in his shoulders ease – ‘fine’ was better than ‘okay’. He was nearly certain. He also very much wanted to know what expression he was wearing that had put the gentle, concerned sympathy on her face, so he could make sure he never had to see it again. “I’m not worried.”

She blinked. “Ah-”

“I’m just concerned.”

“Oh, but-”

“That he doesn’t cause Mike too much trouble.”

Clamping her mouth shut, Hannah studied Levi’s face.

“That’s all it is. I’m not worried.”

With a slow nod, Hannah attempted to keep her expression blank. “Al- alright.”

Levi struggled with the need to keep explaining himself. He glanced up the stairs to the exam rooms on the second floor, rubbed a hand over the dripping hair tickling the back of his neck, and tried to smooth away the scowl on his face. “Where is he?”

“He’s in the back.” She paused, and then carried on almost apologetically. “It’s really not that bad, I promise. You don’t have to be…concerned.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Levi blew out a breath. “So he didn’t get shot?”

Instead of the instant negative Levi had expected, Hannah hesitated. Levi felt his stomach drop.  

“He got shot?”

“Ah, no. Well...that’s not really…” She glanced back at the other occupants of the lobby. The teenager was pretending to focus on his forms, in between sneaking glances up at Hannah. A pair of bearded men Levi thought he recognized from the diner sat a little ways away, one with his head against the seat back, eyes half closed, the other industriously biting at his nails. Both were watching them openly. The only occupant completely ignoring both Hannah and Levi was en elderly lady talking to the ball of fur on her lap. Levi thought it might be a dog.

Most locals knew about the wolves, of course, but not everyone. And Mike’s patients weren’t always locals.

Biting her lip, Hannah glanced back at Levi. “You should go see for yourself.” As she turned back to the kid, she nodded at the hallway partially concealed by the staircase, beside one of the elevators Mike had had retrofitted into the old home. “He’s in the last room on the right.”

Levi stepped through into the narrower hallway just in time to see Annie stepping out from the room at the far end. She spotted Levi, nodded, and as Levi moved closer he couldn’t help but notice the lack of  alarm in her expression.

The girl was hard to read as always, but if anything, Levi would have had to say she looked very slightly amused as she stepped back, holding open the door for him.

“Go on in.”


	10. Splinters Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I'm not gonna disappoint too many people with what actually happened to Eren. But here it is :)

 

The room was crowded, but Levi’s attention zeroed in on Eren as soon as he stepped across the threshold. The wolf’s body took up nearly the whole of the examination table. He lay still, motionless except for the way his side lifted with every breath. One of his forelegs stuck out at an awkward angle, encased in a colorful brace.

Levi’s hands twitched at his side. He fought the urge to stride across the room, to smooth down Eren’s mussed fur and check every inch of the wolf for injuries.

Shoving his fists into his pockets, he stayed where he was.

His eyes returned to the brace, and lingered. The thing was pale pink, covered in cheerful blue and yellow flowers, and they’d fastened it around Eren’s leg with fluorescent green Velcro straps. It was obnoxious. Exactly the type of thing Mike would pick out to annoy Levi, and Levi found that oddly reassuring.

Mike stood hunched over a broad, shaved patch on Eren’s haunch, taping down the edges of a square dressing. The nurse hovering beside him, Dieter, was clearly distracted, his eyes constantly flicking across the room to the large, golden wolf sitting beside the chair Berthold had folded himself into.

The wolf – Reiner, Levi was nearly certain – was staring back at Dieter. The tongue lolling out the side of his mouth should have made him look harmless, but it really didn’t. To Levi, he looked as though he was just waiting for the blond nurse to lose his nerve and bolt.

As Annie pulled the door shut behind her, Eren lifted his head. At the sight of Levi, the wolf let out a startled yip and jerked his head back around to stare accusingly at Mike.

“Don’t look at me. I didn’t call him.” The doctor reached for a roll of white gauze, gesturing at Dieter to help wrap it around Eren’s back.

“I asked Hannah to call him, and Mikasa too.” Anne had stepped into the room. She walked across until she could slide down to the tiled floor beside Reiner.  

Eren whimpered.

“It would be worse if they found out later, and we hadn’t told them.” She worked her fingers into the ruff at the back of the pale wolf’s neck, leaning into his side. “Better to get it out of the way now.”

Levi hunched his still wet shoulders against the cold air-conditioned air, suppressing a shiver. Both Annie and Berthold's clothes were damp, covered in blotches of partly dried mud. He wondered if they’d carried Eren here. How far away they’d been. “What happened?”

This time, Eren’s whimper was long, pleading. He craned his neck to stare at the three sitting against the wall.

Annie smirked back at him as she answered Levi. “A mouse.”

Eren’s head dropped down to the table with a thump.

“A mouse?”

Annie nodded, her amusement now obvious. “Yeah. Eren was showing off-”  

Eren huffed, ears flattening.

“You were definitely showing off.” Ignoring Eren's grumbling, Annie angled her head towards the north facing window. “We were up by the big falls, on the redstone cliffs. He was jumping around and this tiny mouse ran over-”  

Wiggling up, Eren tried to brace himself on his good front leg, evidently attempting to physically stop Annie from carrying on.

Mike pushed Eren’s leg out from beneath him, letting crash him back to the table. “Stay still.”

“It _was_ tiny. Cute.” Berthold spoke up for the first time.

Annie snorted. “It was probably spooked by the racket Eren was making. It ran straight at him, over his paw and Eren just kind of leaped straight up in the air…”  She hesitated, her face quickly going blank.

Mike backed away from the table, stretching his back as he spoke directly to Levi. “He fell off the damn cliff.”

Shock sent waves through Levi’s body. He stared back at Mike. “How far did he fall?”

“Far enough. He's lucky he didn't break his neck.”

Annie's eyes were fixed on her knees as she carried on, her hand deeply buried in the pale wolf's fur. “He just…disappeared. Right over the edge. There’s a lot of mud and soft ground in that area, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, mainly scratches and bruises. But he couldn’t walk. We didn’t think his leg was broken, but we figured we’d better have Mike look at it.”

“You’d have been idiots to do anything else. There’s no way to tell for certain without an x-ray, but it’s probably fractured, at least. If he’d put weight on it and the bone shifted, we’d have had much bigger problems.” Mike started stripping off his gloves, throwing them at the trash can as he turned back to speak directly to Eren. “In any case, you should have come straight here on Saturday, before that bullet wound of yours got infected.”

Already reeling, Levi felt the breath freeze in his lungs. “What the fuck, Mike? He got shot too?”

Mike shook his head, his eyes deliberately calm as he looked back at Levi. “Barely. Not much more than a graze. But with it being metal…” He shrugged. “He should have come in.”

The wolves were largely a mystery, even to themselves. No one knew why they existed, or exactly how they worked. They had a higher base temperature, their hearts beat faster even in human form, they seemed to have an affinity for the night – or at least a weakness to the sun – and they healed fairly quickly, in most cases. Metal seemed to complicate that.

“He was trying to pretend it wasn’t a big deal. That’s why he was being stupid and showing off in the first place.”

Eren yipped at Annie.

Her lips twitched as she shook her head at him. “You really were.”

“That’s all fine, but any one of you had to have smelled that infection. You need to stop being so damn independent. Especially now.”

Berthold and Annie both looked away at Mike's words, saying nothing. Reiner’s eyes stayed fixed on Dieter, who was surreptitiously trying to keep Mike’s bulk between them.

Mike sighed, but dropped the subject. “Eren, You’re going to need to stay off that leg for at least the next twelve hours. So no _jumping off tables_.” He grabbed at Eren’s shoulder as the wolf struggled up and inched towards the edge of the table. “And no changing. With the way you guys' bones jigsaw themselves back together when you shift, and _your_ luck, you’d probably end up with a fractured skull, or worse.”

“That’s fine.” Annie pushed off the floor, getting to her feet. “We all need to stay out of the forest for a while, anyway. We got a little too close to a few of those hunters.” She glanced down at the big wolf beside her. “And we'll have to keep Reiner at home for few days. He’s a little too wolf right now.”

“I'll take Eren home." Levi finally let himself close the distance to Eren's side. He stretched his hand out, hovering over the warmth emanating from Eren's side, and tried to ignore the look Mike was giving him. "My home, I mean. I can keep him from being too stupid at least."

“Good. I’ve already asked Hannah to arrange for someone to drive you two home.”

Levi’s head snapped up. He stared at Mike. “Not Erwin.”

“Nope.” Mike clapped a hand on Levi's shoulder as he headed past towards the door. “Even better. Ymir.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I lived in California, this would totally be on time, but I don't, so I'm a couple hours late. I still say it counts though :) 
> 
> Slightly longer chapter, and I'm actually hoping for the next one tomorrow again!


	11. Splinters Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter of the Splinters bit. And I am SO looking forward to the next part :)

Ymir was already revving her engine as Levi wrestled Eren out from the backseat of her jeep. He’d barely had time to kick the door shut before the deputy was taking off, back tires splashing mud up over Levi’s legs. She shot forward down the dirt road, letting the tail end of her jeep skid around as she slid into a tight U-turn. She zoomed back past his house with her window down, so Levi could clearly heard her yell ‘you owe me one’.

“Fuck that.” Levi muttered, hitching Eren up a little further against his chest. Turning away from her retreating lights, he started across his grass lawn.

He was cold, tired, wet, and now dirty, with a ridiculously heavy wolf slung across his arms. Eren carefully held himself mostly still, excluding the bushy, dog-like tail that whipped at Levi’s shoulder every few seconds. His body temperature was high, almost searing against Levi’s damp, chilled skin.

Maneuvering his way in through the front door, Levi tightened his grip when Eren wiggled to be set down.

“Don’t be an idiot.”

Eren whined, but stilled. Mostly.

Kicking off his shoes, Levi hesitated just inside the living room. He should dump Eren on the couch. Maybe on a plastic sheet. Or even better, he should set Eren down on the floor, and go hunting for a dog bed – there was bound to be one stuffed into the closet somewhere.

Instead, he turned on his heel and stalked into his room. He was scowling when he dropped Eren down onto the bed.

Eren blinked up at Levi.

“Stay there.”

With his colorfully wrapped leg sticking out in front of him, and the bandage around his hindquarters making his movements awkward, Eren shifted until he could lay on his stomach. He kept his eyes fixed on Levi’s face, angling his head questioningly.

He wasn’t usually allowed on Levi’s bed in wolf form, especially not when he was dirty.

Levi scrubbed at the back of his neck, trying not to let himself wonder why he’d decided on his own bed, especially after he’d just spent days trying to get Eren’s smell out of the thing. “Just…sleep.” Now that he didn’t have Eren’s heat to hold back the cold, he felt the chill of the unheated house creeping across his skin. He needed to get warm, and dry. And clean. He backed away from the bed. “I’m going to have a shower.”  

Eren’s ears perked up at that. He wiggled toward the edge of the mattress, clearly intending to follow Levi.

“What part of ‘don’t put any weight on your damn leg’ did you not understand?”  

Eren’s jaw dropped in a grin.

“Idiot. Stay on the bed.” Turning away, Levi made it all of three steps before he heard the rustling behind him.

Glancing back, he found Eren had inched over just enough that he could dangle his one, injured paw off the side of the bed towards the floor. His green eyes were fixed on Levi, his bottom jaw still hanging open in a canine smile.

Levi studied the wolf for a long second. Eren’s ears swiveled around towards him as he shifted another inch closer to the floor.

“If any part of you comes off that bed before tomorrow morning, no part of you will ever get back on it. In any form.”

Eren’s jaw slammed shut. He yanked his paw back and dropped his head, making a show of pressing his whole body to the mattress, even his tail finally freezing in place.

Shaking his head, Levi turned away. He’d very nearly made it to the door when his eyes snagged on the window, and the brown, swaying trees outside. The quickly darkening gray skies. His feet went still.

He remembered the wolves that had hovered at the edge of the yard on Friday night. Eren’s back as he’d stared out at them.

And the way Eren’s back had looked as he’d walked away.

Without a word, Levi yanked the curtains shut.

 

\--

 

Scalding water sprayed down over Levi’s ducked head as he braced his hands against the tile wall. He stared down, watching the swirling, sudsy water as it eddied into the drain. The bone deep cold didn’t seem to be going away.

He was so tired.

He hoped exhaustion was to blame for the heavy weight in his chest. There was no need for it. He _knew_ Eren would be fine.

Somehow he still felt as though he were on the verge of losing the kid, and he didn’t even know when Eren had become someone he couldn’t stand to lose.

Pulling away from the wall, Levi scrubbed at his face. His lips tightened when he caught another trace of Eren’s scent. Somehow, no matter how much soap he used, or how hard he rubbed at his skin, it wasn’t going away. He was starting to wonder if it was some new werewolf thing.

Maybe he should ask Hange.

With a scowl, Levi grabbed the bottle of disinfectant soap and squeezed out another handful.  

 

\--

 

He had forgotten to get clothes out from his dresser before he’d stepped into the shower, but he’d been saved from having to go back into his room by the load of laundry he’d done that morning. The only pair of sweatpants in the neatly stacked pile of clothes were slightly loose, but they stayed up enough that Levi could manage with only occasionally having to hitch them up.

He’d gone straight from the shower to the kitchen, to put together food for Eren – something he could eat in wolf form, without getting off the bed, and without Levi having to physically feed it to him. Which all took a little while to put together.

So after delaying as long as he could, it was almost anticlimactic when Levi finally walked back into his room and found Eren asleep.

His shoulders relaxing, Levi set the tray on the bedside table and slowly eased his hip down to sit at the edge of the bed. Eren lay stretched out, head on the pillows. His fur was mussed, patchy, and the broad white bandages distracted from his usual splendor. The interesting brace didn’t help.

Levi stretched out his hand, stroking it over Eren’s fur. He’d wondered how Eren had gotten away with only a fractured leg after falling off a cliff, and now he was close enough to spot all the smaller scrapes. They weren’t major – nearly healed except for the missing fur - but there were a lot of them, and they probably came with bruising that Levi couldn’t see.

Finally, Levi let himself do what he’d been aching to do ever since he’d walked in and found Eren on Mike’s exam table. He lowered his head, resting his ear against Eren’s side, and listened to the strong thump of the wolf’s heart.

The beat was strong, steady, and Levi felt immeasurable relief.  As he curled into Eren’s side, he felt Eren’s warmth push away the cold the shower hadn’t been able to touch.

And then he felt the shiver that ran through Eren’s body.

Pulling back abruptly, Levi studied the wolf. He was sleeping soundly, no restless movements. He was running hot – but he always ran hot. His breathing seemed a little fast.

A second shiver ran across Eren’s side, ruffling his fur, and Levi was on his feet and out of the room.

The wolves healed quickly. Levi had heard Hange and Armin discussing the possibility of it having something to do with the way they changed – their bodies seemed to reconstruct themselves in a pattern no one really understood yet, but didn’t seem entirely random. Sometimes injuries disappeared when the wolves shifted form, sometimes they didn’t, but when they didn’t, they spread themselves out – so a deep scratch on a human cheek might end up six shallow scratches on a wolf’s belly.  

Hange and Armin thought that the wolves’ bodies could be in a constant, unconscious state of shifting – always rebuilding themselves. Spreading the injury around, making it weaker and weaker until it disappeared.  

But everyone knew metal was a problem. Wolves couldn’t shift if they were surrounded by metal, and evidently they couldn't heal as well either.

Levi grabbed his phone and dialed Mike’s number.

It rang twice, and then the doctor answered. “He’s got a fever, doesn’t he.”

“Yeah. You knew?”

“I was worried. That infection didn’t look good.”

“What do I need to do?”

“I’ll come over now-” Levi heard Hannah’s voice saying something in the background “No, I can’t. I should be able to make it in about an hour. Keep damping down his fur, but keep the wound dry. Keep the room cool, and make sure he drinks water. That’s about all we can do.”

“Okay.”

Mike paused, and then carried on. “He’ll be fine.”

“Yeah.”

As Levi hung up, knew he was in for another sleepless night.


	12. Bacon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the first chapter of the part I've been looking forward to write ever since I started this fic. The fluffy, possibly smutty part. I'm so excited :)

Levi woke to the smell of burning bacon.

Blinking, he stared up at the shadowed ceiling. The room was dark, quiet. A glance at the window told him that there was no sunlight outside to bleed in around the edges of the heavy curtains. He had no idea what time it was or how long he’d been out, but at least it was still night.

He didn’t remember getting into bed, or falling asleep. He also didn’t remember getting undressed, but somehow he seemed to have lost his shirt.

Eren’s fever had broken at about 4am, and the wolf had slipped into a deep, easy sleep, not even stirring when Levi had changed the damp bedding beneath him. Levi could remember taking another shower, dumping everything into the washing machine, and cleaning up the mess he’d made in the kitchen, but not much after that.  

A dim, sleepy memory of a deep voice telling him to ‘stop being a stubborn jackass’ had him quickly stretching a hand down beneath the blanket, and he breathed a sigh of relief when his fingers encountered a layer of fabric covering his hips. He hoped the flash of memory was just a bad dream, and Erwin hadn’t really had anything to do with getting him into bed, but at least he was still wearing boxers.

He sat up, sheets falling to his waist. The bed beside him was empty, wrinkled, and felt cold to the touch - Eren had been up for a while. The faint light shining in through the slightly ajar bedroom door was the only sign he hadn’t left the house entirely.

That, and the distinct scent of charred bacon.

The soft sound of bare feet padding across carpet had Levi jerking back the hand he’d laid over Eren’s side of the bed, placing it firmly in his lap as he watched the door swing open.

Eren stood in the doorway, a loaded tray in his arms. His eyes landed on Levi and a broad smile stretched across his face. “You’re finally awake.”

“Why are you moving around?” Levi studied Eren carefully. He couldn’t see any visible injuries, but that didn’t mean much of anything. “And human? You’re not supposed to change until tomorrow.”

Eren shook his head, his smile bright despite Levi’s scowl. “It _is_ tomorrow. You slept through the whole day. Mike said I was fine to change once the sun went down.”

Levi hesitated. “Mike was here?”

“Yeah, he came over with Erwin. I was so glad.” Eren didn’t seem to notice Levi’s wince. He stepped into the room. “Otherwise I don’t know how I’d have gotten you into bed on my own. What with not having opposable thumbs during the day.” He set the tray down on the nightstand and flicked on the bedside lamp.

“Did they do anything…odd?”

“Of course not.” Eren angled his head to the side as he thought. “Oh, Erwin did say something about a surprise, but I think he was joking. It was right after you accidentally punched him in the face, when he and Mike were trying to get you into your pajamas.”

Levi sighed, and scrubbed at his face.

“Is something wrong?”

“No.” He’d have to thoroughly search the house later. Since Mike was involved, he’d check his underwear drawer first. Or Eren’s. “What time is it?”

“About seven. The sun hasn’t been down for too long.” Eren’s eyes dropped. “I thought you might be hungry. So I uh…” He nudged the tray more firmly onto the bedside table. “I made dinner. Or breakfast, really.”

“I see.” Levi studied the tray. The glass of orange juice looked safe. A plate - piled high with wrinkled black strips and a huge mound of scrambled eggs - sat next to a bowl of what might have been cereal at some point, but now looked like a cross between oatmeal and gruel.  The golden-brown toast looked fine, if Levi ignored the thick slabs of butter struggling to melt on top, and the suspiciously black crusts.

When Eren picked up the tray, the cereal wobbled like wheat colored, opaque Jell-O, and Levi felt his empty stomach revolt.

“It’s my first time.” The words had Levi’s eyes jerking up to fix on Eren’s face. “Cooking for someone else, I mean. I’ve never even used a stove before. Had to call Armin to ask how to even turn it on.” Eren bit his lip, uncharacteristically not meeting Levi’s eyes as he gripped the tray tightly. “I probably should have just stuck with the cereal, but...”

Levi stretched out his hand towards the tray.

Eren finally lifted his gaze to meet Levi’s. “You’ll eat it? Really?”

“Hand it over.”

His face brightening, Eren leaned forward over the bed – and then froze as he watched the congealed cereal slosh up and over the rim, and then fall back into the bowl without spilling. his smile disappeared. “I probably should have waited until I was done with everything else before I added the milk.” He started to pull back. “I’ll pour you another bowl.”

“I want this one.”

“But-”

“Give me the damn tray.”

Taking a deep breath, Eren handed it to Levi.

Levi settled the tray on his lap, hitching back until he could lean against the headboard. He picked up a piece of the bacon, very aware of Eren anxiously hovering beside the bed as he lifted the blackened strip to his lips.

At the loud crunch that echoed through the room, Eren shut his eyes. “It’s so bad. You really don’t have to eat it.”

“It’s fine.” It tasted like salted, meaty charcoal. Levi took another bite.  

“I’m sorry. I’ll call Armin and ask him to bring something over from the diner.” Eren leaned forward to grab the edge of tray.

“Leave it.” Levi picked up a slightly less charred strip, one with a little bit of pale fat still showing between the deep brown. He shoved it towards Eren’s mouth.

Blinking, Eren let go of the tray as he slowly bit at the bacon in Levi’s hand. His eyes widened.

“It’s fine.” Levi repeated.

“Yeah. It’s fine.” Eren sank down to his knees beside the bed, resting his arms on the mattress as he watched Levi eat. “I guess it’s kind of hard to ruin bacon, huh?” He stretched forward, grabbing a new strip and then settling back into place.     

“Don’t get crumbs in the bed.”

“I’ll be careful.” He shoved the whole strip into his mouth, and then reached for another.

Levi studied Eren carefully as they crunched through the bacon. He looked bright, alert, healthy. Completely at ease, his eyes never even flicking towards the door or the window.

“How long are you staying.” Levi hadn’t planned to ask, but the words were out before he could stop them.

Eren shrugged. “A while. I think Annie and Bert want to try and get Reiner to turn back. So it could be a couple weeks, maybe more. I’m pretty sure they won’t want him going into the forest until the hunt is done with, in any case, so if we do go out it’ll probably be just to keep the true wolves away from the hunters. Because we won’t be a full pack on our own.”  

Feeling unreasonably cheered by Eren’s words, Levi decided to risk a bite of the eggs. And then quickly, firmly set the fork down, lifting the glass of orange juice to his mouth in the same motion. 

The eggs were twice as salty as the bacon, with nearly as much pepper as salt.

Eren bit his lip, eyes concerned. “I went for sunny side up, but the yellow broke so I changed it to scrambled. I might have mixed in some of the shell.” He hitched up on the bed until he could get a closer look at the eggs, and must have caught a whiff of the pepper because an instant later he pulled back, sneezing twice in succession.

Slumping back down to the floor, Eren buried his face in the mattress. “It’s terrible. You really don’t have to eat it all.” His voice was muffled against the sheets.

“Don’t talk so easily about wasting my food. You eat enough of it as it is.” Levi took another cautious bite of the eggs.

With a short laugh, Eren lifted his face. He rested his chin on the bed and watched Levi work his way through the mound of scrambled eggs, interspersing the bites with small sips from the orange juice. “Want me to make you some tea?”

Levi hesitated, fork hovering in midair as he thought of all the ways tea could go wrong. “No-”

Eren’s shoulders slumped.

“After I’m done. I’ll teach you how to make it.”

Instantly perking up, Eren smiled at Levi. “Okay.”  

The bacon was nearly gone, only half of the eggs remained. Leaving the cereal aside for the moment, Levi picked up one of the slices of toast, not at all surprised to find the bottom completely burnt.

The younger man stretched out his arms, resting his head on the bed as he watched Levi eat. Levi’s eyes caught on the brown hair, long enough to pool on the sheets around his face.  

“Your hair’s grown.”

Eren lifted his head, brushing the brown strands back. “Yeah, it hasn’t been cut it in a while.”

Levi swallowed a bite of the toast, and took a last sip of the juice. “Want me to cut it for you?”

Eren’s eyes went wide. “You?”

“Yes, me. Is that a problem?”

“I just mean – you’d cut my hair for me?”

“I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t willing to do it.”

“Please. Yes.” Eren jumped to his feet, knocking the bed with his knee, hard enough to have the cereal jiggling. “I’ll go set it up.” He called over his shoulder, already out the door.

Levi spotted one last piece of bacon, and set it aside for after he got through the eggs. It was the first meal Eren had ever made, and Levi was determined to eat every bit of it.

Except for maybe the cereal.


	13. Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is, the fluffy smut I've been promising for absolutely ages. 
> 
> Also, as always, smut is hard. I hope you all enjoy :)

 

When Levi walked into the kitchen after his shower, he found Eren siting ready, a towel around his shoulders, almost vibrating in anticipation. 

He’d dragged one of the chairs out from under the kitchen table and placed it in the center of the room, on top of a cut-up black garbage bag. He’d laid out everything he evidently thought Levi might need, including several pairs of scissors, the floor lamp from the living room, a giant stack of towels, and a mop bucket full of water. Levi had made him put most of the stuff back.

He seemed to have his restless energy contained now. As Levi’s hands worked deftly through his hair, he held himself perfectly still. Almost as if he worried one wrong move might make Levi change his mind.

Which wasn’t at all likely, but since Eren’s stillness made his job so much easier, Levi let it be.

He wasn’t used to cutting short hair. He’d learned when his sister had been small. She’d hated the buzzing of hair trimmers, enough that just the sound somewhere in the same room could bring instant tears to her eyes. In true, stubborn Isabel style, she’d refused to say a word about it, but after one particularly traumatic trip to the salon Levi had had enough of watching her miserable face as she forced herself not to cry. He’d put his foot down and taken a couple classes at a local beauty college. They’d both been a lot happier for it.

He’d cut Hanji’s hair too, until Moblit had taken over, but they’d all thought it was wiser not to put sharp objects in Levi’s hands when he was that close to Erwin or Mike. Not unless they were gagged first.

He’d never cut Eren’s hair before. He wasn’t sure why he’d offered today, but as Levi pulled his comb through the short hair at the back of Eren’s neck, he wondered - not for the first time - at the deep comfort he felt just being in Eren’s presence.

It made him act in ways he didn’t expect of himself.

The black night outside the kitchen window seemed to create an insulating barrier, holding the rest of the world at a distance. All that Levi could hear was the hum and buzz of the fridge and the floor lamp’s single oversized bulb, the soft snip of his scissors in Eren’s hair. Nothing from outside seemed to have any effect within the isolation of the brightly lit kitchen.

Levi knew that at some point he was going to have to actually decide exactly what Eren meant to him. Because as much as he insisted he just tolerated the kid, he was starting to have to admit – to himself, if no one else – that Eren’s presence in his life had become almost a necessity.

But he wasn’t going to worry about that until he had to. For one thing, he had no interest in allowing anyone to become indispensable to him. His sister was the only exception. That way lay hurt, and far too many memories he had no interest in reliving.  

And then there was the fact that he didn’t know what Eren thought of him, exactly, and even the idea of trying to work _that_ out was enough to make his head hurt.

Levi set the comb and scissors on the table. The black plastic bag rustled beneath his feet as he circled the chair, running his fingers through Eren’s soft brown hair, brushing away the few cut strands that hadn’t fallen to the ground, measuring the sides. 

His finger brushed over a slight ridge on Eren’s scalp, near his ear, and he stepped around the chair, pushing back Eren’s hair to get a better look. The ridge was a scar, jagged, faint, long enough to curve halfway around the side of Eren’s head.

Levi’s jaw clenched. It wasn’t new.

He remembered, clearly, when Eren had gotten it. The idiot had jumped a rabid dog. The animal had been heading straight for Levi and Isabel as they’d been walking towards her school, early one morning, and it had been a stupidly brave thing to do on Eren’s part. But when the dog had retreated into the forest, Eren had followed - which had just been stupid.

By the time the Levi and the tracking party Ymir assembled had reached them, Eren was a mangled, bloody mess, in only slightly better condition than the dog he’d managed to pin down into an enclosed gully.

Mike, Hanji, everyone had still known so little about the weres back then. No one had thought to stop Eren from changing. In human form, his ear had been all but severed, barely attached to his heavily bleeding skull.

Levi ran his finger along the pale line. It was just one of the many injuries he’d developed that night. This faint scar was all that was left of any of them.

Eren reached up, grabbing Levi’s hand and gripping it tightly as he lifted his face to smile at Levi. “I’m tough, you know. It’s hard to really hurt me.”

Using the hand Eren held, Levi reached out with his finger to poke at the center of Eren’s forehead. “No. You get hurt plenty. It just doesn’t stick long enough for you to learn from it.”

“I’ll be careful.”

Levi snorted. “You really need to learn what that word means.”

Eren turned on his seat, maneuvering until his thighs were on either side of Levi’s legs. Letting go of the hand he’d gripped, he wrapped his arms around Levi’s waist. “I’ll always come back to you, you know.”

“You’re so irritating.” The words were spoken gently, far more softly than Levi had intended. Feeling his lips slowly curve in response to the grin that stretched across Eren’s face, Levi stroked back the hair that had fallen over Eren’s forehead.

“I know.” Nuzzling his nose into Levi’s stomach, Eren’s arms tightened, pulling Levi in closer. “But as long as you let me in through the door, I’ll keep coming back.”

Levi threaded his fingers into the hair he’d just cut, tugging Eren’s head back. The green eyes staring up at him were bright, alive. He leaned down, letting his mouth hover an inch above Eren’s. “If you get yourself killed, I’m going to make you regret it.”

“Okay.”

Levi’s kiss was delicate, soft. A marked contrast to his fist in Eren’s hair.

Eren laughed, his breath puffing against Levi’s mouth, and his hands slid down to cup Levi’s butt through his jeans.

He stood, hitching Levi up and walking him backwards until he could set him on the table. Since Levi’s feet weren’t touching the ground anymore anyway, he didn’t hesitate to wrap them around Eren’s waist. He used his free arm to pull himself up enough to set his mouth back over Eren’s.

This kiss was in no way delicate, and certainly not soft. Levi bit at Eren’s lower lip, not letting go until Eren insistently worked his tongue past Levi’s teeth, pressing it deep inside Levi’s mouth.

They were both having trouble catching their breath long before Eren pulled away. He leaned over the table enough that he could set Levi back down, freeing his hands and wedging them in between their bodies.

Obligingly, Levi fell back onto his elbows, watching Eren as he pushed up his shirt, bunching it beneath his arms. Hands already busy on the fastening of Levi’s jeans, Eren dipped his head to press a trail of tiny, stinging kisses down his chest to the faint swell of his stomach.

His mouth paused, licking at the slight dip near his hip, just before it trailed under Levi’s waistband. He bit down, holding the soft skin between his teeth a second too long and a little too tightly.

Levi’s head fell back on a moan he couldn’t quite control.

Dimly, he felt Eren spread his fly, holding it wide open. His head jerked up an instant before Eren’s teeth gently closed around him through his boxers.

Elbows giving out, Levi fell back onto the table.

“What the fuck, Eren.”

“I’ve been wanting to try that for months.”

Struggling to calm his suddenly raging heartbeat, Levi eyed the satisfied expression on Eren’s face. He looked so proud of himself. It was almost adorable. “Yeah?”

“Uh-huh.” Eren’s fingers started tugging at the waist of Levi’s jeans and underwear.

Levi lifted his hips up off the table, letting Eren drag his clothes down and off his legs.  

“Did you like it?”

“I’ll let you know after the next time.” Levi shuddered as he he felt Eren’s hand close around him, holding his erection firmly in place while he licked a long strip up the side. “Hurry.”

Eren’s hands went to the hem of his shirt, yanking it up and over his head. As it dropped to the floor, his hands were back on Levi – one wrapping around his waist, hitching him forward across the table, the other slipping down between his thighs.

Levi’s hips jerked as Eren’s finger probed, and then slowly pushed inside. As a second one eased in next to the first, Levi used his stomach muscles to pull himself up, ripping his own shirt the rest of the way off, and wrapping his arms back around Eren’s neck.

All while Eren’s fingers continued to press deeply into his ass.

“Hurry.” He repeated.

“Oh, right. Wait.”

Levi pulled his head back enough to stare up at Eren. “What.”

“I have to-” A deep flush had spread across Eren’s cheekbones, and his eyes were dazed. His hand didn’t stop working between Levi’s legs. “I don’t have anything here.”

“What?”

“Condoms, lube. I don’t have it.” Finally, Eren pulled his hand away, bracing his arms on the table to hold them both up. He dipped his forehead to rest on Levi’s shoulder. “The stuff’s in the room.”

“Lets go then.” Levi hitched his hips towards the edge of the table, but Eren didn’t budge.

“No.”

“What?” Levi pulled away completely, studying Eren’s face.

Eren’s eyes dropped to Levi’s dick. He swallowed. “Please. I want to do this here.”

“This is where we eat. It’s for food. Not for fucking.”

“We ate breakfast in bed today, so maybe we can have sex on the kitchen table?”

“What the fuck kind of logic is that.”

“Please.” Eren’s hips pressed forward, the long swollen ridge beneath his pants pressing into the junction of Levi’s thighs.

Levi let out a long breath. “Fine.” He let go, leaning back on his arms. “But you’re going to have to sterilize this whole place afterwards.”

Eren’s face brightened. He was beaming at Levi as he slowly backed away. “Yes, yes of course.” He watched Levi carefully, for any sign of movement. “Just…stay here. Stay _exactly_ like that.”

He whirled on his heel, running straight into the wall beside the door, before correcting his path and heading out into the living room.

Levi heard a loud thud as Eren ran into something else, probably another wall, and realized he was smiling. Broadly. Shaking his head, he scrubbed his hands over his face and wondered at himself. Here he was, sitting stark naked, dick fully erect, legs dangling off the edge of his kitchen table.

Grinning like an idiot.

He heard another loud thump, and then Eren was rushing back into the room. He’d evidently managed to untie the knot holding up his sweatpants, because they’d dropped halfway down his thighs. He kicked them the rest of the way off as he walked across the kitchen and slotted himself back into place between Levi’s legs.

Levi eyed the massive pile of condoms Eren dropped to the table beside him.

“I wanted to be prepared, just in case.”

Levi picked up one of the packets, ripping it open. “Uh-huh.”

“We don’t have to use them all.” Eren was squeezing out a handful of the lube.

“Right.”

“I mean we _can_ , but we don’t have to. Unless you want-” Eren’s voice cut off abruptly as Levi slowly slid the condom over the top of his dick.

Levi took his time rolling it down along Eren’s length. “You planning on doing anything with that lube?”

Blinking, Eren stared down at the golden pool in his palm. “Yeah.”  He shook his head, and then rubbed his hands together. “Right.”

When Eren’s fingers eased back inside, Levi had a moment to think of how slick really was much better than dry, and then Eren’s other hand was wrapping around him and he wasn’t thinking much about it anymore.

Some of the earlier urgency had faded, but it didn’t take long for them both to be past the point of wanting any more foreplay. Eren’s fingers pushed in deeply, scissoring, stretching him out once, twice more, and then he was pulling his hands away and positioning himself between Levi’s thighs.

Levi’s back arched up off the table as the thick head slipped inside, past the tight ring of nerves and muscle. He heard himself moan at the electric shocks shooting up his spine, and the increasing heat and pressure had every muscle in his body stretched taut. Eren kept going, pushing relentlessly forward until he was completely embedded inside Levi. Sweat plastering his hair to his forehead, his fingers dug into Levi’s thighs as he slowly pulled out, and then shoved himself back in.  

When Eren pulled his hips back a second time, Levi hitched his legs up, crossing his ankles behind Eren’s butt, pressing him inside as deeply as he could. Gradually, Eren moved faster and faster, until he was pounding into Levi. The table banged into the wall loudly on every thrust. Levi’s arms stretched out, hands scraping over the table as he tried to find something to hold onto.

Pausing long enough to lift Levi’s legs, Eren draped his calves up over his shoulders, bending Levi nearly double beneath him. He thrust inside, deeper even than before, and Levi felt the shockwaves give way to a numb heat that spread outwards the base of his spine. Eren had his hips right at the edge of the table, hands holding Levi firmly in place as he pounded into him.

Something tightened inside Levi, coiling up from his groin through his belly.

Eren’s hand dipped down, gripping Levi’s erection loosely as he changed his rhythm, and the angle of his thrusts inside of Levi. He didn’t have enough co-ordination to do more than hold his hand in place as Levi moved beneath him, but it was enough. The coil tightening inside of Levi seemed to burst, and his hips jerked, stuttering upwards. He felt himself tighten around Eren.

In an instant, Eren’s control was gone. His fingers sank into the flesh of Levi’s legs, his hips roughly pistoning into Levi as he rode out his own climax.

Sweat dripping from his face, Eren’s head fell forward, breath hissing out between his teeth. His arms shook as slowly, he pulled out, the friction almost too much for Levi’s now sensitized skin. Taking a deep breath, Eren slid his arms beneath Levi, gathering him up. He stood, letting his knees give out almost in the same motion.  

He lay on his back, Levi on top, both struggling to bring their breathing under control.

“I should tell you, I’m hoping we get to use all those condoms.”

Levi raised his head, eying Eren. His eyes were shut, chest heaving. “Better hurry up then.”

“Yeah. Give me a minute. Maybe two.”

Levi buried his smile against Eren’s chest.  


End file.
